KDWP - Effects of Stocking

[shorthairs4life]

I'm not a biologist but I know here in Wisconsin, the state releases birds and I regularly go out after the season to work my dog and I never find birds, not even tracks in the snow. The birds are not taking and the habit is good. I think the solution lies somewhere other than releasing.
In the past I thought otherwise but living here now for 2 seasons and seeing a zero result makes me think differently.

 

[pointshoot]

you might read through the various articles or watch the video from the covey base camp or the quail surrogator.
the point being that all pen raised birds are not the
same
there may be someone thats a member here that has actual experience with a surrogator and it would be interesting to know if their theory holds true,
the idea being that their(quail)survival instinct develop in the first 3 weeks after hatching.(other species would have similar traits)
the video from the covey base camp states that released birds must be kept isolated from human contact or they become accustomed to us and thus ,less"wild"
i'm talking about when they're in the flight cage.
many folks have hunted on the put and take farms and may have noticed that this is not the case ,the flight cage is not isolated,in the video the cage's side were covered to prevent the birds from seeing human traffic,cars and equipment coming or going
on the larger operations they use automated feeders and waterers,the smaller they feed and water at night.
this is to limit human contact.many have probaly seen wild life shows where geese ,falcons ,whooping cranes, imprint on the first thing they see when they hatch.
point being ,there's a preparation process before the birds are released to insure higher survivabilty
regarding CRP,my understanding was that the program was started witha thought to prevent grain price fluctuations,it just happened that it helped wild bird populations this was an unintended benefit
my thought would be is the current CRP configuration the best bang for the buck?
is 300 acres of grass more productive than 250 acres of grain with shelter belt intertwined? 70/30% split,80/20%,dont know
yes, its important we're going to have to participate more in stewarding our resource so it's worth having

 

[mustistuff]

habitat

hardly been through cherokee country, maybe even never have. your take on it however sounds pretty serious. mostly i am familiar with the western, northern half of the state. quail are more than holding their own at least over a 10 year period, pheasants have taken a beating the past two, prairie chickens are now found in a far wider range than in many years, deer and turkey populations have mushroomed to the point they are a problem in many areas and while i hunt mostly weed days for birds, i rarely see a hunter in the field, same for my turkey hunting. don't know exactly where you are coming from but i am glad i'm up here and not down there. go shoot some snow geese and good luck.

cheers

 

[mnmthunting]

Woody cover within grasslands is a must for pheasants. whether it be in the form of shelter belts, windbreaks, fence rows, coulees stuff like that.

Grassy areas within a woodland won't support many if any Pheasants.

Grassland is necessary for nesting mostly and brood raising secondly.

Grasslands alone would support pheasants if not for predators and Winter storms and snow accumulation. Open Winters are rare in the Northern US pheasant belt. Grasslands alone are useless most Winters for pheasants and even natives like Sharptails. Sharptails will fly for miles to find shelter and food.

If You want pen raised pheasants to survive, all habitat and a year around food source must be in place. Plus security.

In the case in Wisconsin the birds are released to be hunted. And hunted hard by good hunters and good dogs. If there are surviving pheasants their probably pretty smart by seasons end. And if there are survivors they most likely have moved on to a safer more secure area. Private property would supply more security in many cases.

 

[SetterNut]

I agree on the woody cover being a help.
I have been seeing a few pheasants on my land, one here and there, once in a while. We got about 10" of snow, this week and my land has plum thicket, where the surrounding land has little low woody cover. I found 2 roosters and 5 hen under the first plum thicket, and saw tracks under and around the other thickets.

 

[kansasbrittany]

I agree on the woody cover being a help.
I have been seeing a few pheasants on my land, one here and there, once in a while. We got about 10" of snow, this week and my land has plum thicket, where the surrounding land has little low woody cover. I found 2 roosters and 5 hen under the first plum thicket, and saw tracks under and around the other thickets.

Did your quail choose the thickets too or head to a nearby homestead or cedar patch?

I saw grass poking through the snow on my way to Topeka yesterday. More snow is melting today. I'm sure the birds are finding food without much trouble, which is good, because it sounds like they'll need the calories in the next couple days.

 

[oldandnew]

Quail are remarkable at getting around and gleaning for food. these days if they are out of cover for about thirty minutes at first light or last light, it will hold them. I think I read a story that said pheasants could last for 2 weeks without food in severe conditions. I think that might be a few days for quail, it's the ice the kills. Hopefully we avoid that!

 

[SetterNut]

I took the dogs to the place for a run this afternoon. The snow has melted down to about 3-4". The only place where you see grass is up under the cedars.

At the SW corner of my land the neighbor has a nice milo field, and there is a small plum thicket on my ground that bumps up to the milo. Both pheasant and quail come out of there today. Wish I would have gotten a picture of that.

Indy went on point on the other side of the field from me, not the greatest picture zoomed all the way out on my little P&S. But you can see a little of the thickets. I have some work to do on the habitat, but the birds should do ok as long as we don't get a bunch of Ice.